California State University-Long Beach Reviews

"California State University Long Beach is often said to be a commuter school by the local population and after attending, I am inclined to agree. It always seemed like it was a college where people go to school and then rush to get home compared to some other schools that have more people stay on campus longer. Academically, I thought the education and quality of professors was fairly good although not every teacher was the best. Some buildings I had classes in were somewhat rundown with sketchy lighting and no central air conditioning. People were friendly enough and it did seem like they tried to make the student experience enjoyable at a lower costRead Less"

"In terms of animation I think CSULB is coming up as one of the major schools in southern California due to its proximity to the industry as well as its improvement of its program, also the fact that the 24 Hour Animation Challenge originated on its campus also emphasizes the strength of animation on its campus"

"It was a difficult transition from community college. But once you understand how to study and work in teams, everything becomes easier. I wish I would have joined clubs and had the time while I worked. Overall I enjoyed my experience and the subjects I learned"

"I fully recommend California State University of Long Beach. I took classes here online after their online programs started to open up after Covid and I am fully satisified with the classes I took. I graduated in Sociology and the online courses were very thorough and easy to follow along online. I was able to visit the campus during graduation and the campus is spacious and beautiful!"

"CSULB is the only college I got into as a transfer student from 2 years at community college. My ideal school was CSU Fullerton as I felt their Communication program would better cater to the education I was looking for with a Communication degree. I preferred a focus more on media rather than literal study of communication so I feel my degree was not as helpful as it should have been, rather my internships were more impactful post graduation."

"I really enjoyed my experience at CSULB. I had great professors and the facilities and resources offered everything I needed. The one difficult part of my experience would be the struggle to register for certain classes that were required. This ultimately ended up delaying my graduation."

"The president of CSULB seems out of touch with the students and has made decisions that has negatively impacted the students attending. The school recently took down the student center which was one of the few on campus locations that students could hang out. There is never enough parking and the price for parking increases astronomically each year. The classes in the computer science department are a 50/50 on whether you get a professor that cares."

"Good school like the campus and the teachers great education. Would definitely recommend to others. I was able to live off campus and easily access to school with the mini parking lot and I really love the trees of the campus. It makes it feel really open and pretty and serene."

"The school itself was a fantastic breeding ground for potential. Setting up schedules, attending lunch, and even the dorm rooms all provided an essential and appreciated experience. I had a great time at CSULB, and the activities along with the people and level of courses all seemed adequate."

"CSULB engineering education was an extremely cost-effective investment for me. Because of the fairly low-cost tuition, I graduated with almost no student debt. This gave me the freedom to work in an industry that I love, without the burden of paying back a loan. I also met wonderful people, even being the introvert that I am."

"I had a really negative experience with CSULB's College of Professional and Continuing Development. I hadn't realized that I was enrolled in a class, and they charged me for it even though I never attended class, turned in assignments, communicated with the teacher, etc. When I tried to explain that I hadn't known that I was enrolled, I was met with a flat out refusal to hear my side of the story, as well as a notice in the mail that my $950 bill was being sent to collections. I felt really ignored and dismissed and I can only assume that my experience reflects on how the school treats it students in general. It also makes me wonder about the teachers at CSULB. I would have expected a teacher to reach out to an apparent new student who wasn’t attending class or participating at all, but that didn’t happen, which makes me question how much the teachers care about their students at this school.Read Less"

"Some professors were supportive but those were few and far between. Others were more invested in their own research or tenure than to be transparent and provide proper guidance to aspiring grad students. This program and their ideology for “hardly ever giving As” wrecked my GPA for grad school and caused me to have to pursue another MA (which I am currently thriving/acing…wish I would have known the power GPAs have on doctorate admissions).Overall, this program teaches you a lot but it comes at a cost. There’s definitely zero work life balance and the program itself prides itself on that. It’s hard to believe that professors that spout equity and research that is mindful of underserved communities, was so blatantly unaware of the population they serve, even when their grad cohorts are so small yet diverse.I would have been more considerate to their approach if they actually provided financial resources for this kind of time/course work requirement (like paid TAships and prepping those who potentially wanted to be instructors—-shadowing and calling it a course does not actually teach you how to create a portfolio or create lesson plans, etc).I’d steer clear and attend UCI if you’re that passionate about criminology and research. Much like other posts have described, this program is a lot of tears and needless stress. Their department just always wanted to be UCLongBeach so bad…Read Less"

"I attended CSULB for several years and received a degree in Chinese studies. I have to say this was probably the worst possible decision I made, but it was due to the fact that professors who had zero clue about jobs or the economy convinced me that this degree would be "valuable" and that "companies really need people who speak Chinese." I had more than one person tell me this, and since I did well in my classes that were Chinese I thought "why not?" I graduated with honors, participated in an extra language program, and well - there are NO jobs for people who major in this field. Zero. I was shooed-away at the career center with a "we cannot help someone with your major." The truth is businesses want someone who is natively bilingual, and they can easily fetch someone who is Chinese and grew up here with the right skill set. Businesses want business/data analyst/econ/math/science majors. Employment outcomes for this major are garbage. I only know of 1 person (yes ONE) who ended up becoming a Chinese teacher after living abroad and getting an MA in another country and a teaching credential (something the teachers at the BA level never tell you to get). They teach high school. Everyone else? Nope. For the rest of us Chinese is a side-note on our resume or we are asked "why did you study that?" it has zero market value in the real world. ZERO. The people who I knew who ended up successful were double majors with business (which isn't permitted anymore due to "impaction"). So please if you are considering this as a major RUN- the professors know nothing about work, and in some cases are just trying to be employed. As for the classes themselves they were a joke. I was able to get an A by studying maybe 2 hours a week (if that). My classmates were either Chinese Americans who were washed up and just trying to please their parents by saying they were studying about their culture (but couldn't get into chemistry/bio/engineering) or were Americans who were told the degree would be valuable. While there were about 2 talented teachers in this department (both lecturers) most of them were pathetic. We had a whole class on the i-ching- which we were forced to take because the Department Head at the time only wanted to run her classes so she could get her full hours in. Teachers loved to talk religion, politics, and other nonsense in class. Most of the culturally oriented classes could have been massively overhauled to be relevant to maybe working in law enforcement or government, but I doubt the fossils would want to touch their sacred syllabi to make it worthwhile to students. Reading assignments were at high-school level (or below). In one class students who couldn't write a sentence without a grammatical error ended up with Bs! At one point they were worried about the accreditation people coming (as they should be!). I know the graduate level Asian Studies stopped admitting people for a bit then restarted due to "issues." I think Chinese (language only) would be ok as a minor if you had an interest and were majoring in anything else. But please don't do it as your main major, as it is a MAJOR disappointment being unable to be employed anywhere. The college itself is massive- 30k students. Most people are commuters. During my time there I witnessed sexual harassment (no one did anything even after it was reported), there was a campus rapist, flasher, and also homeless who smacked people off their bikes (not making this up). I really don't have much that is positive to say about CSULB, except they just want your $$$$Read Less"

"This program is heavily intertwined with a mental health clinic (LBTRC). More than half of the professors work there. This influences the learning experience tremendously. This program does not have a coordinator and professors are scrambling to do everything. This causes disorganization and extra stress on the graduate students. It is CBT focused and not much room for exploring other modalities. It is a cohort model so you will have the same people throughout your time there. I've met some great people! It is affordable compared to other programs.Read Less"

"I came to CSULB nearly burnt out of mathematics; here I found professors that mentored their students through the program; as a student wanting to go on into a PhD, I found several professors more than willing to help. I got one on one help at office hours many times, and found my classmates to be of a very high caliber mathematically. We were constantly discussing, and even ran our own graduate student seminar in geometric-topology. This place is a hidden gem, and will always be special in my heart. Go Beach!Read Less"

"My education at CSULB truly made me a global citizen. I was involved in multiple facets of campus life, from student organizations, sports clubs and professional development. I spent most of my time in the college of Liberal Arts, where I studied journalism and Anthropology. The journalism program was a tightly knit community in which all professors know students by name. Students are encouraged by faculty to pursue publishing opportunities for the articles and projects developed in class. I was on staff for three years at the Daily 49er newspaper, a fixture in the journalism department, run and evolved by students and faculty. I had a double major, so the other side of my education is defined by my being completely enraptured by my anthropology classes and professors. Part of the reason why I pursued a double major with anthropology was because the faculty at CSULB was so passionate, intriguing, and accommodating of differing cultural backgrounds and perspectives. Finally, I left CSULB bilingual because of the quality of the Spanish program. Although I am a native English speaker, I finished the program giving presentations in fluent Spanish, and eventually traveling abroad to utilize my Spanish language skills. Aside from the education opportunities, CSULB was always bustling with events, art and music shows, professional development events-- the list goes on. The school boasts over 300 clubs and organizations, so as a freshman I was presented with innumerable professional, social and athletic opportunities. In my mind, the cherries on top are the beautiful student union buildings and the two-tier gym. My only criticism would be that the school should offer more career workshops. While I feel I gathered professional skills, I found a lack of specified career development opportunities in the Liberal Arts Department.Read Less"

"I had a wonderful educational experience at CSULB. Each and every one of my professors was very passionate and knowledgeable about their field of study, and they lended so much guidance and support throughout my studies. I thoroughly enjoyed my undergrad experience there and it is situated in such an ideal location."

"My experience at Cal State Long Beach was unforgettable, the atmosphere is laid back and everyone there is friendly. The professors know their stuff and are willing to sit with you if something doesn't make sense either after class or during office hours. The school has lots of resources and campus events for the students to get involved. There's a starbucks in the library, and library staff available to help. It's a few miles from the beach, you can not go wrong. GO BEACH!!!!"

"This program is one of the hardest and most painful things I've ever done in my life. Do not expect to get sleep if you are enrolled in this program, or have a social life at all. Do expect to be stressed out and cry often. The teachers are very wonderful, but this program is a lot."

"I have long been an advocate for attending a state school to you can get a quality education at a reasonable price. I believe it was the positive experience I had at CSULB that helped me to form this opinion. As an Asian Studies major I can say that every professor I had was extremely knowledgeable and never made me think I was compromising my education by attending a state school. Additionally, as a native English speaker trying to learn Chinese I cannot say enough about the language lab resource center the school has for students learning a new language. When I graduated I was confident in my Chinese speaking abilities that I could successfully live overseas. While I am not using my degree, as my career path has taken me in a different direction, I have always been satisfied how my time was spent receiving an education at CSULB.Read Less"